IIT Entrance: Sibal fails to impress faculty
June 12, New Delhi: Alumni Associations of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Faculty Federation have accused HRD Minister Kapil Sibal of disregarding the senates’ concerns about the new format. The group demanded Prime Minister to intervene on the issue.
President of the Faculty Forum of IIT Delhi Sanjeev Sanghi said that the idea of including the Class 12th marks was not good. “Different states have different boards. How can you evaluate their marks in the admission procedure? See when the government came with the inclusion policy IIT did take it into effect, new IITs were opened, the old IITs nurtured them. So whatever decision the government has taken we are supporting the government, it’s not that we are outside the government. But these issues of school marks and coaching at a different place bother us and we have been thinking of how to find a solution,” Sanghi said, talking to CNN-IBN Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose.
IIT Delhi Alumni Association President Somnath Bharti said that before taking such decisions, the government should discuss them with the faculty and Senate.
Author and IIT Alumni Chetan Bhagat also said that the new format will take away a lot from the IIT brand.
Kapil Sibal on Monday virtually ruled out a rollback on his new one-nation-one-test proposal for engineering colleges. But defending the format, he did say that the government had no intention of infringing on the autonomy of the IITs.
Sibal also claimed it was a unanimous decision of the IIT Council.
Sibal further said that the decision of the IIT Council was in tune with the international practices.
Sibal had on May 28 announced that from 2013, aspiring candidates for IITs and other central institutes like NITs and IIITs will have to sit under a new format of common entrance test, which will also take the plus-two board results into consideration.
Senate of the IIT-Kanpur has rejected the Centre’s ‘one-nation one-test’ proposal and decided to conduct its own entrance exam from next year.
Sibal said that on his return, he would study the decisions being taken by the IIT Kanpur.
“This has nothing to do with the Government,” he said noting that the decision has been taken in accordance with the IIT Act.
This would have no impact on the quality of the education in IITs.
The minister was responding to questions after delivering his speech ‘Education: US-India Collaboration’ at an event organised jointly by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a prestigious American think-tank based in Washington and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
In his remarks, the minister said India, having a young and dynamic population, is facing enormous challenge in the higher education sector, and in order to provide college education to all the country in the coming years as many as 800 new universities and 40,000 to 50,000 new colleges.
“It is not an easy task. It is a monumental task. But there are enormous opportunities there.”
“We need to look at solutions which are out of the box, which are Froogle innovations,” Sibal said, adding that how to ensure that enough people go to college is one big challenge.
The country, he said, needs another 800 universities, and between 40,000 to 50,000 colleges, a goal he said is tough to achieve.
Sibal argued that the same quality of education can be provided with the communication revolution taking place.
“I think, globally we have to thank the way we think,” he said.
“Time has come for educational institutions to think differently,” he added.
Responding to questions, Sibal said not much foreign investment is not coming in the country’s education sector.
News Gathered by India News
Posted by